Kwa-Thema – A pensioner’s home has been destroyed after a water pipe burst under the floor in her bedroom.
Margaret Sithole (81) has not been able to sleep in the room since November.
“It was after 21:00 and I was getting ready to go to bed. I was about to take some medication, then I heard what sounded like an explosion.
“It was really loud. And while I was trying to figure out what had happened, I heard it again,” she explained.
Sithole said her house was flooded in seconds and she could not get to the door.
“I screamed for help because the water was getting higher and higher,” she added.
Sithole’s tenants heard her and managed to get her out of the house.
“The water did not stop. It was three weeks into December, the water was just flowing from under the floor,” she explained.
Some of her furniture and appliances were damaged during this period. The pensioner said that after a few failed interventions by municipal workers, the running water was finally contained.
“They dug through my yard multiple times; one of the outside rooms had to be demolished to make way.
“I was glad that someone finally stopped the water. When I asked the team who would close up the other trench, they said that it was not their mess to fix. And no one has come back since,” said Sithole.
She said that she has not been able to use her bedroom since.
“The floor is permanently damp. I am afraid to even step into the room because it feels like the tiles are unstable,” she added.
Sithole uses a crutch to support her when she is walking.
“It is just sad that I have to live like this now. None of this was even my fault,” she said.
Sithole has to sleep on a couch in one of the outside rooms on her property.
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